Sleep tight my Angel
by lozzadozza89
Summary: Abi Branning was kidnapped and murdered when she was only Eleven years old Her dad, Max Branning writes a memoir based on those events and reveals the truth behind his little girl's kidnapping and tragic murder.
1. Chapter 1

_In loving memory of my little angel, Ab_ i

Introduction

Bad things can happen to anybody, they can happen anywhere and to anyone, no matter what age or who you are but you wouldn't think that something bad could happen to somebody very close to you, your own flesh and blood, your own child.

Firstly, allow me to introduce myself, My name is Max Branning and I have three wonderful kids, well had three, all I have left is my oldest daughter Lauren and Son Oscar after the horrific tragedy which had befallen my youngest daughter, Abi who was kidnapped and murdered nearly eight years ago. She was only Eleven years old and some sicko had snatched her off the street and claimed her innocent young life, the life of a sweet and caring young girl who wouldn't hurt a fly.

Nearly eight years on and I still mourn the loss of my little girl, I still weep when I look at her photos, hear one of her favourite songs or still see her toys in the same place where she last left them as I cannot bear to move them, it is a huge reminder of when she was enjoying life as a happy little girl who should have been out having fun with her friends and she was hoping to be a vet when she grew up but all of that had been taken away by some sick individual who apparently had been stalking my little girl weeks before abducting her and claiming her life so that she wouldn't tell anybody what things he did to her during her final moments.

Abi, sweetheart, I miss you so much and this memoir will be written in your memory.

Love Daddy

November 2015


	2. Where it all began

Where it all began

When Tanya fell pregnant with Abi, it came as quite a shock for both of us as our oldest child Lauren was a year old but after we got our heads around the news, we started looking forward to having another little branning running around and seven months after finding out that we was going to have another baby, Abi was born in June of 1996 and when I held her arms for the first time, I made the promise that I would protect her and never let anything bad happen to her ever. I had made that promise to both my girls but I had failed my youngest, my little Abi who had been cruelly snatched away from her family by some sick individual who had stolen an innocent eleven year old girl to fulfil his sick fantasies and then claimed her innocent life.

As a baby, Abi was always fussy and would always like to be held, she never ever liked to be put down,if any of us tried to put her down she would scream and would settle down straight away if either me or Tanya picked her up but by the time she was 6 months old, she would no longer cry or scream if we put her in her cot and by the time she hit two years old, she became a real daddy's girl and would always follow me round and whenever I went to work, she would be sitting at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me whenever I got home and since then, she remained to be a daddy's little girl, my little girl and It makes me hurt inside knowing that she had her young life cut tragically short, only Eleven years old, had her whole life ahead of her, she could have gone to university, got herself a good job and had a family of her own one day, I would have walked her down the isle on her wedding day but none of that can ever happen because she had her innocent short life cruelly snatched away from her all because of some sick evil bastard who had been stalking my little girl for weeks before kidnapping her, doing god knows what to her and then taking her life so that she wouldn't tell anybody what sick things he did to her during the kidnapping.

It had all started after the Christmas holidays and that Christmas had been a disaster, I had been having a secret affair with my son Bradley's wife Stacey and it had all been revealed so Tanya had kicked me out so I was now staying over at my brother's flat. The first couple months of 2008 had started out bad, I had been kicked out of my house and then my youngest was abducted and murdered and I could remember Abi telling me about a strange man who had attempted to lure her into his car and even followed her when she refused. Abi would always come and visit me whenever she had the chance and I can remember that very day she told me that a man and tried to entice her into his car before following her but she had managed to get away and none of us knew that he would eventually succeed in snatching my little girl.

It was a Saturday afternoon in early January 2008 and she had come round to visit me as she was missing me and hadn't seen much of me since I was kicked out over Christmas.

"How you been darling?" I asked as she threw her arms round me as soon as she walked through the door.

"I'm okay thank you but I'm a little worried" she replied as she finally released her grip on me and we both went into the front room and sat down before I asked her what was troubling her and that was when she began telling me about a man in a red car hanging around outside the school.

"How long has he been hanging around outside your school for?" I asked her as I had found it pretty suspicious that some random man was hanging around outside a school.

"A few days now" Abi replied "but every time I pass his car, he always offers me a lift but I keep saying no, he gives me the creeps dad, he'll ask me if I want a lift and when I say no he starts following me in his car." Abi knew all about stranger danger and I was proud of her for saying no when this man who she didn't even know attempted to get her into his car but I found it pretty disturbing that he would follow her after she declined.

"He showed up again yesterday" Abi continued "only this time he got out the car and grabbed me but I managed to fight him off and run." I was horrified to hear that he had grabbed my little girl and tried dragging her into to his car but I was relieved that she had managed to get away but little did I know that she wouldn't be able to get away the next time, he would succeed in snatching my little girl and what happened after that is something I cannot bear thinking about to this day.

"Have you told your mum about this?" I asked her.

"Yeah and she's been in contact with the police about it" she replied "I told her that he grabbed me today and she contacted the police about it and they said they're going to try and find him." After spending an hour at mine, it was beginning to get dark and she had asked me to walk her back as she was worried in case the man who had been trying for the past few days to abduct her was hanging around on the square.

"I hope the police catch him dad, I don't want to be a kidnap victim" she told me as I walked her back home and I agreed with her but those words still haunt me to this day.

Febuary 5th 2008 was the day of Abi's kidnapping. It was a Wednesday and everything seemed normal, Abi came to see me that morning before she went to school and told me that she hadn't been seeing the man in the red car lately and I assumed that maybe he had finally been caught but little did I know that he hadn't actually been caught and in a few hours, he would snatch a innocent Eleven year old girl and murder her with no remorse, my little girl, my Abi.

"Can I sleep over here at the weekend?" she asked, putting on her sweet puppy dog eyes which is something she would usually do if she wanted something and it was impossible to say no to a face like that.

"You'll have to see if it's okay with your mum first" I told her, I didn't want her staying over without Tanya's permission first and getting into trouble.

"Okay I'll ask her tonight" Abi replied before hugging me goodbye, gathering her school bag and heading out the door. That was the last time I would see her alive.


End file.
